


A quiet universe

by Adeline_Hatter



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 50 years of the Master, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Old Friends, Timeline B, Two can play at that game universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28506897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeline_Hatter/pseuds/Adeline_Hatter
Summary: Suzi is sixteen when she meets an older friend of her parents.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	A quiet universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HiNerdsItsCat (HiLarpItsCat)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiLarpItsCat/gifts).



> I got permission to write this Months ago... And it's my first published work of 2021... Nice.

There wasn’t a lot that could produce worry in her. 

Intergalactic war was a given considering the egos that shoved themselves about out there, the hormones and feelings of so many races it was almost unbearable to step outside her door. 

Twenty years passing, two decades going would never have usually made her blink an eye. 

But it was what the two decades  _ lacked  _ that worried The Rani and she let it. 

She never kept up with universe politics, it was a boring affair especially when it didn’t require her attention but she always made sure to have an ear somewhere out about timelords, specifically a pair of pests she had known since they were fresh out of looms. 

Two decades passed and mentions of The Doctor and The Master diminished softly, quietly and then they were gone. 

It was made worse by the lack of calls or long drawn out emails detailing how one had pissed off the other in what was always an infuriating level of accuracy or lack thereof. 

A lesser life form would still get the repeats of the same stories over and over again, the last story she had heard was about the latest incarnation of the cyberwars, which were bound to be rewritten at any time. 

But after that, mentions of the Doctor disappeared.

Which meant one of two things. 

The first being that the Doctor was dead, but probably not due to the fact that the Master hadn’t been seen blowing themself up due to being the culprit. 

And the Doctor would never let anyone kill them but the Master. 

Which brought the second thing into her mind, looking for them.

* * *

  
  


Earth is as dull as ever, though humanity was cleaning it’s act up considerably and the world seems a little more bearable as she starts to move through the area she’d tracked the last TARDIS that had been anywhere near her own to. 

The wind kicks up a fuss when she opens her doors, disguised as a little closed shop in a stretch of them overlooking a beach, when she breathes in she can taste the sand and the salt count in the water, the latitude. 

Her hair swept itself to the side as she slipped on her sunglasses, it tastes like Ireland, the soft tittering of a group of humans in a lilting accent confirmed her suspicions as the tracker in her hand helpfully pointed her towards the beach. 

Well, that would mean it was the Master’s TARDIS, he knew how much the universe hated sand and if she were a lesser being this would have turned her away.

But she is not. 

Her heels sink in the sand as she walks towards the beach huts lining the beach, she spots the purple one with ease and knows immediately what it is and who it belongs to, her hair keeps swaying, the air still tastes like Ireland and it’s cold. 

It’s locked, but foolishly not biolocked.

The Master could be  _ so  _ infuriating at times, especially when he decides to disappear. 

She walks up to the door, presses her hand to it and searches for the signal that is a bit dormant and more than a little bored apparently as it seems to welcome her head like a lost child who’s lonely, it unlocks for her with a bit of ease. 

“Well, you are a new one.” She remarks to it, taking the first step inside and finding what she could only really describe as a disaster of hoarding, the console lighting up in a distantly reddish hue as she ran a hand over the surface of it. 

Slowly, the TARDIS comes to life around her, a whirr here and a blurr there, she soothes it quietly, softly like it is a child- Though she dislikes those in general -in need of comfort and it wakes to her. 

“Now… Do you know where they are?” She asks it and it cannot help but answer. 

This TARDIS tells her a story, a story of two beings who underwent a change so preferred that they kept it. 

The foolish beings that they were no more tucked into a corner of their minds, into objects and she sighs, another mess to clean up.

* * *

  
  
  


Despite popular belief, she hadn’t actually  _ meant  _ to set the whole chemistry classroom on fire, just the countertop and if anything it was the teacher’s fault for not storing the chemicals correctly. 

Still, that didn’t change the fact that at sixteen years of age, Suzi Smith-Jones has found herself sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair with slightly singed hair waiting for her Father to come out of the office of the head teacher with what has to be a record number of phone calls in the past month. 

Wasn’t it that after every tenth phone call home you got a free pass? Or at least a coffee? 

Her phone sits heavily in her pocket, silent and waiting for the inevitable call from Mum that would either tell her well done or  _ We’ve changed our minds you will be watching Ian on Saturday whilst we’re out of town.  _

She really hopes it’s the former. 

It seems like an age goes by before her Dad gets out of that office and away from the terrible old woman and when he turns to look at her, she knows she’s not  _ really  _ in trouble and it’s all this sort of performative moment that she gets from his side. 

“We’ll talk, won’t we Suzi?” He says it in the same tone he does when her parents argue, half annoyed and half of mirth at the sheer ridiculousness of whatever is going on around him, when she nods he turns back to Headmistress Turner and smiles, “I’m sure it was an accident.” 

It wasn’t, but she’s not going to say anything to point to that factor, that would be incriminating herself after all.

“I’m sorry.” Is what she repeats out loud, though it  _ really  _ was their own fault, “Won’t happen again!” And she throws in a smile for good measure. 

Now, her Dad does frown because she belatedly realises she’s channeling him when he attempts to be innocent. 

“Right, best get you home, thank you for calling.” And he grabs her by the shoulders and waves goodbye to Headmistress Turner with a more strained smile than before. 

As they get out of her sight, he slows again and turns to her properly, “Tell me the truth, did you mean to set the place on fire?”    
  
“....They don’t store their chemicals well?”    
  
He sighs, but doesn’t sound overly disappointed in her, “Let’s go home and not tell your Mum about this shall we?” 

She agrees eagerly and they start to walk to the car. 

He pauses when they get there, looking around for a long moment, a quiet moment, before he pulls open the door to the driver’s side as she climbs into the passenger seat and sits down.

But his shoulders are tense, for a moment she’s reminded of being six years old and being cared for by a whole different set of parents, it’s the way his nose pinches up, “Dad? Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” He says and turns the car keys. 

On the way out, she sees someone walking down the street across from the school, doesn’t glance in it’s direction but the way she holds herself, the woman, red hair and a black coat, blending in just enough but Suzi knows the confidence that encases her. 

“Dad?”    
  
“Yeah?” 

The woman stops on the corner of the street and looks up from whatever she has in her hands, head turning towards them as the car rolls past her to look at it. 

Suzi pauses, “Nothing.” 

* * *

  
  
  


She keeps seeing her, the same face and Suzi debates over what to call her, the ‘Woman’ is a little too sherlockian and assuming but she doesn’t really have anything else to go with. 

All Suzi really knows is that something about the way she held herself, the fashion… It didn’t seem quite human and whilst she did spend some time aware of the existence of aliens, she wasn’t ready to label just yet. 

But there are moments, smaller ones and she ponders mentioning it once or twice, or dealing with it herself. 

Mum and Dad  _ were  _ busy with work, so maybe she should leave it, there was something or other about microorganisms that they were studying and it wasn’t overly interesting compared to say the lockpicking she’d been preoccupied with lately but Mum was enjoying it and Dad was doing investment advising or something and he dealt with that enough. 

A potential alien didn’t really seem worth mentioning, especially with how busy they were and the hassle of… All of that. 

She knows she’s not normal in the factor of parents and sets of them, she doesn’t really know yet why they switch in and out, she has a feeling it’s to do with the garden shed but never really finds the time to ask. 

Maybe she should just leave it for now… Yeah, leave it for now and ask questions later when they wouldn’t be able to get out of it.

* * *

  
  


“Hello.” It’s a singular word, one word and Suzi turns to see the woman standing with her hands holding an item, “I was wondering if you could help me.” 

Her words have an accent in them, it’s not northern and it’s not common londen, it’s… different like it’s seen more languages then she’s ever comprehended, “I don’t think I can?” She replies quickly. 

The woman’s eyebrows raise as if to say ‘really?’ and momentarily Suzi pauses, “Are you sure? Because I know your parents.” 

“Really? What are their names?” 

“Jenny and Harry, though they have another set as well.” She continues, then stands up impossibly straighter and Suzi  _ knows  _ that she’s an alien, because no one human can hold themselves with that much pride and self importance, “Listen, can you just mention that I need to talk to them? 

Suzi raises herself up, she’s about as tall as her now that she’s up close, “Why not go directly to them?” 

“Because talking to you will get them to talk to me, mostly to attempt to tell me off.” 

It takes a moment, “Are you threatening me?” 

“Threatening you? Heavens, I’m not your Father.” And just like that, Suzi makes the executive decision to lead this woman around on a parade of bullshittery that would make her Mother proud. 

She crosses her arms, “I could be persuaded to pass the message along.” 

“....I don’t deal with earth currency, you have to understand that.” 

“Earth currency?? Are you an alien?” 

The woman’s face falls flat, eyebrows falling as she lets out a deep sigh and looks up at the sky with what seems to be a long suffering stare. 

“You got ten quid at least?” Suzi asks as the woman’s gaze returns to her.

She pauses, debating, “I have a couple hundred on me, what do you want?” 

“Well, your name for starters.”

The self importance seems to grow, “I’m the Rani.” 

“Rani?” 

“THE Rani.” 

Suzi pauses herself, “I would like a milkshake and maybe a new lockpicking set.” 

“Would you settle for a milkshake and an expensive chemistry set?” 

“......Deal.” 

* * *

  
  


The Rani peers at the phone in front of her, “This one? Are you sure?” 

Suzi nods, “It’s the best home set on the market.” 

“Maybe on earth, I could get you one from Beskar, those labs are massive and capatalist as all hell, they mass produce ones made from aeor steel that last for thousands of years.” She says it so matter of factly, “Or I could get you want from Gallifrey, they aren’t exactly using them any more. 

She sips her milkshake and peers at the woman, “What are they like?”   
  
“Heavy duty, doesn't weigh much but can deal with any kind of chemical from across time to experiment with.” As she’s talking, she’s peering out of the window and Suzi notes she hasn’t touched her cup of tea as it slowly steams, “How long do you think they’ll be?   
  
She ignores her second question and pushes her phone a little more across the table, “This one will be fine.”    
  
“Are you sure? Because there’s also the Shadow Proclamation’s warehouse full of confiscated items and those are infinitely better than-” 

“This one.” Suzi pushes the phone towards her again and the Rani sighs audibly as she pulls a black card out of her pocket and starts to type. 

As she hands the phone back, a shadow falls over their table, “Get away from-” The Master starts, but Suzi cuts him off.

“Mum! Dad! Look at this chemistry set she’s just brought me!” 

“You have a weird daughter.” The Rani states at the same time, “There’s something wrong with her.” 

The Doctor pauses, “There’s nothing wrong with her.” 

“I just offered her the highest graded chemistry sets in the known universe and she wanted me to buy a ‘Normal’ earth one.” 

The three adults lapse into silence, as Suzi sips on her milkshake. 

She breaks the silence simply, “It’ll be here on tuesday.” 

  
  
  
  



End file.
